So in July I moved once again to a rental home. It is a classic 3 bedroom stone built victorian semi detach, that you get so many of up here in Yorkshire. I have repainted all the walls, but as its a rental cannot touch the flooring and fittings etc. I am hoping to buy this next year so more improvements will be done. Hope you like it as it is so far. The walls are painted in french grey, which can look a little blue in certain lights. The sideboard is maple with a marble top, there is a collection of Aldo londi's Bitossi pottery. The side table is from habitat with a Conran Beep table lamp. The sofa is a leather goosedown corner sofa from Mogens Hansen, the rug is a tapestry by Bayer. The other side table is Penguin Donkey by Isokon, Eames fiberglass chair, an Oak Niels Moller desk, with a Kaiser Idell lexus Lamp. More various Bitossi and John Clappison pottery for hornsea.

Hi all I haven't done a posting on anything in my home. I have recently moved again so will be posting a full home tour soon. I bought these little 'crackers' from an antique shop a couple of months ago, I love them.

The history of the wooden Nutcracker starts in 16th century in Germany. And of course it predates the ballet. Nutcrackers showed up in Germany's Erzgebirge region in 1725. Other estimations - like te town Seiffen - claim the nutcracker's official birth year as 1879. By teh way, Seiffen in Germany was home to many of the world's most famous toymakers.Nutcracker's Legend

Erzgebirge legend: Long ago there lived a hardhearted and wealthy farmer. He promised a reward to anyone who could crack his walnuts. One day, a carver came from Seiffen and surprised the farmer with a wonderful wooden puppet. It was colourful painted with strong jaws, powerful enough to crack walnuts. Grateful, the miserly farmer rewarded the entire village.

According to another legend the nutcracker might also be symbolic. Erzgebirge residents suffered Germany's early political repression. So, toymakers constructed a wooden figure whose only military purpose was to crack nuts on command.